Real Men Knit(65)

Jesse felt his heart slam against the wall of his chest as everything in him and every part of him seemed to move forward at once to meet her. She kissed him with eager, unexpected abandon that set everything ablaze, pressing her lips to his, at first cool then suddenly warm. When she ran her tongue lightly across the crease of his lips, he opened his mouth readily and tasted her sweetness for the first time, just about weeping with the pleasure of it. His lips tingled in time with his dick and he pulled her in tighter toward him. She moaned, the sound a low hum of satisfaction like she’d been wanting it for just as long as he had. The realization of that and the ramifications of it stilled him. Jesse froze, pulling back slightly.

Breathing hard, he pushed back on her shoulders, tilting her up from his chest with slight pressure. The action brought her top half up, but her bottom half unfortunately pressed dangerously tighter to his own. Dammit, that wasn’t what he was going for. She grinned, not for a moment looking like their Kerry Girl but instead like the Kerry he’d dreamed of many nights over but never dared to mention.

“We need to stop,” Jesse said. “We both know with my track record how this will end.”

She smiled at him and wiggled once again. “Of course we do,” she said, then leaned in and ran her tongue across his lips once again. She licked up to his jawline, then kissed and kissed and kissed again until she reached his earlobe. “It’s a good thing I won’t be staying here long enough to ruin you completely.” Then she nipped at his ear and came back to his lips and kissed him long and hard enough to curl his toes in his sneakers. His fucking toes! There was music. Strings, a guitar, horns. Wait. That was the record. Jesse stilled. Dammit, the record had stopped already. Shit, this was all Kerry.

All thought escaped Jesse as he grabbed at Kerry and flipped her over. The yarn ball that was between the two of them slipped out and now rolled down the steps for real as he kissed her lips, her neck and headed down toward her breasts. She brought one leg up and wrapped it around his. He moaned and she purred. God, she truly was a dream. The most amazing dream. Of his life. He kissed her deeper. Maybe that was it. This was a dream. He was still asleep and any moment he’d wake up and the day would begin, life would be mundane, and he’d just have to deal with it.

Oh well, he’d deal with that when he had to. Right now, he was going to enjoy this terrific fucking dream. He kissed Kerry harder and enjoyed the velvety stroke of her tongue along with the silky feel of her thighs, and that’s when he heard it.

“Yo! Jes! Kerry! Either of you down there?” Kerry stilled below him. Her eyes wide, she clamped a hand over her mouth, fighting to hold back on her laugh.

Shit, Lucas! In the name of Saint Phantom Anti-Cockblocker, go the fuck away.

Jesse silently cursed his brother. As a matter of fact, he cursed all his brothers. Why did those bastards have the world’s worst timing? He looked down at Kerry and could tell she was now thinking extra hard. She was about to say something, but he put a finger to her lips.

“Yeah, we’re here in the loft. Just finishing cleaning up. We’ll be right there!” he yelled. Then he let out a breath.

He heard the pause in Lucas’s step and hoped he’d gotten away with sounding convincing.

“Oh,” Lucas said. “Okay. You need some help? I’m off duty so I came to help out tomorrow. Need me to help you clean up?”

“No, we’re good,” Kerry yelled. “I made some pasta if you’re hungry. Why don’t you get some? It’s in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, um, sure. I’ll do that,” Lucas said. “Thanks, Kerry. See you upstairs.”

They each let out long breaths and looked at each other over the sound of Lucas’s retreating steps and the now-awkward silence with the record no longer playing, it having ended at least ten minutes before. Jesse got up and removed the needle, flipping the record player off. He reached down and pulled Kerry up.

They looked at each other and he wiped the corners of his mouth, then bent to pick up his hat. He saw the string of her yarn. The ball had rolled out of sight. Jesse shook his head. “I’ll go get that for you.” He turned, and she pulled him back toward her. She leaned up and kissed him again. Everything in him told him to pull away. Told him to listen to the voices in his head that said this wasn’t right. That he wasn’t right. Not she. But he. But in that moment, he couldn’t. All he could do was fall in and kiss her once more. Enjoy the sweet taste of her. The gift that she was giving. The undeserved grace. And be thankful for it.

She ended the kiss and pulled back, which was all the better, because for the life of him he couldn’t. Kerry looked up at him. “I meant what I said. No one else is making this decision for me. I know what this is, Jesse. What and who we both are. So stop worrying. Stay out of your head. And mine. I’m only here temporarily. What’s going on right now, whatever this is, is just between us. You don’t have to feel judged, and neither do I. No one has to know. I’ll be home soon, and we’ll be back to just what we’ve always been. You’ll be you and I’ll be Kerry Girl.”

Then she let him go and started downstairs, leaving him to retrieve her unwound yarn ball.





19




Coming into the shop that afternoon and seeing the brothers hard at work transforming the shop with new bright-white paint was a sight to behold. Kerry could already see hints of how much lighter things would be with the fresh white. It made the darker woods that much more striking and the colorful yarns pop like little fireworks.